The long and short of Starchildren is that a distant race of aliens picked up radio and TV signals broadcast from Earth in the 1970s, and thus learned about Rock music. Their minds were so blown by this phenomenon that they elevated humanity to a mythical level, imitating our culture, our language and even our physical appearance (the aliens have a limited ability to shapeshift). Eventually, a group of these aliens headed off in a pilgrimage to Earth, wanting to get at the lovely Rock & Roll paradise they were sure awaited them.

The jorney took so long, however, that the generation of aliens who boarded the ship had already died, and thier decendants, the Starchildren arrived on Earth in 2071. But they didn't find what they were expecting. In the hundred years since Rock & Roll embarked across the light years, the world had become a dark and terrible place. Rampant paranoia about the dark psychological effects of certain art and music drove most of the planet to outlaw "unacceptable expression," and created the worldwide Ministry of Music to enforce this prohibition.

So, the Starchildren, now stranded on this strange and hostile planet, have chosen to stay and join in with the few remaining Earthling rockers in an attempt to overthrow the regime that forbids their music from being played.[/url]

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"Rock and Roll will be the new planetary culture, believe it or not."-Prof. Michio Kaku

Starchildren is pretty much straight ahead sim, with an interesting card mechanic to provide fortune. Players have a hand of cards from which they play appropriate suits to "activate" an attribute or skill. The value of the activated attribute or skill must then beat the face value of a card played by the GM.

The current game provides a basic system for handling performances, in which band members make skill checks to see how much "awe" the current performance is generating, and "awe" converts to lasting "fame" at the end of the set if the band does well enough. Rich has promised that a more detailed system for peformances is forthcoming in a supplement, for them that need such things :)

Rich has promised that a more detailed system for peformances is forthcoming in a supplement, for them that need such things :)

It's not a more detailed system for perfomances, per se. Rather, it's a system for writing songs that are actually different from one another. Incidentally, I just posted the rules in Indie Design, if you want to take a look and/or make suggestions.

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"Rock and Roll will be the new planetary culture, believe it or not."-Prof. Michio Kaku